Secrets of the Hand: Soloing Strategies for Hand Drummers [Paperback]

Alan Dworsky & Betsy Sansby (Author), Betsy Sansby (Author), Alan Alan Dworsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2, 2001

This book is for advanced hand drummers who want to play complex solos using simple sequences of hand strokes. Whether you play Djembe, conga, or ashiko, the practical hand-pattern strategies explained here will help you get the most out of your hands with the least amount of effort. And whether you want to solo in a traditional African or Afro-Cuban ensemble, in a drum circle, in a band, or in your living room along with your favorite CDs, Secrets of the Hand will help you take your playing to the next level. The book is organized into two main sections. The first covers the five basic hand-pattern strategies and the second covers five strategies for creating the illusion of speed. Each new strategy builds on the ones before it. And while you're learning the strategies, you'll also be learning over a hundred patterns that should be a fountain of ideas for you when you solo.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dworsky and Sansby are authors of Conga Drumming, A Rhythmic Vocabulary, World-Beat & Funk Grooves, and How to Play Djembe. They live in Minneapolis.

Product Details

• Paperback: 72 pages
• Publisher: Dancing Hands Music (June 2, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0963880160
• ISBN-13: 978-0963880161
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,095,810 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Could have been better, September 30, 2011

By 

Jonathan Mayhew (Lawrence, KS USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Secrets of the Hand: Soloing Strategies for Hand Drummers (Paperback)

This book does not have an accompanying cd and is a little less satisfying than other books by the Dworsky / Sansby team. Some of the chapters make rather obvious points about omitting ghost notes or alternating hands. Still, I expect I will learn valuable tips from working from it.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite good in fact, February 17, 2010

By 

Anthony Y. Weaver "East West Hybrid" (Escondido, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Secrets of the Hand: Soloing Strategies for Hand Drummers (Paperback)

This book has some valuable techniques and concepts. Having the ability to read well and follow the guidance is another challenge in and of itself. I practice percussion training as a way to capture my short attention span and cultivate orderly frameworks in my conscious and subconscious minds. Some points that are extremely crucial, no matter how seemingly fundamental or primitive at face value must be emphasized with recurring frequency. After inevitably getting carried away with playing to hard and fast, bring it back to simple exercises. Such as loops or phrases/strings of notes that you play over and over for no less than a hundred reps a piece(-use your own discretion, make a meditation of it, kill the chore feeling, it was implanted by corporate ad campaigns that have empowered our weaknesses...). They can be 2 beat patterns through 6,8,12,16,32, however you see fit. Play it slow-hard, slow-soft, hard-fast, and soft-fast, and everything in between. To develop multi-dimensional agility, one must explore every possibility, that is why practices such as these can be illuminating in other arenas too. Try not to let your ego get in the way of admitting that you, like everyone else is a student first, and that to teach is to also learn. No need to ever feel inferior or less desirable to not know something, you'll get further faster admitting ignorance and asking for immediate guidance at every turn.

This art like any other is a form of kung fu. You get out of it what you invest. I compare the analogy of learning how properly to pronounce an unfamiliar word in another language. It requires a little exaggeration on the inflections, tones and rhythm, so that when you smooth it out a bit you're right on.